Friday, January 7, 2011

I love soup when it is cold outside. I love to make soup from the vegetables I grow in my little garden. Fall vegetables grow particularly well for me because we rarely have a hard freeze. This blog has become a little recipe heavy. The broccoli in this soup did come from my own garden. The milk should have come from my CSA farm. Unfortunately, I had to buy my milk this week at the grocery store. It is whole and organic, thankfully.

Saute the onion in a tablespoon of butter. Add the stock and broccoli to the onion. Continue to cook on medium heat until the broccoli is completely cooked - about 10 minutes. In the meantime, saute the mushrooms in a little butter and set aside.

Adjust the heat to low and add the milk. Be careful, it is easy to scald milk and that would taste horrible. Use a wand blender to smooth out the onions and broccoli. Add the cheeses to the broccoli, onion and milk and stir continuously as the cheeses melt. Add the chopped mushrooms and just a pinch of curry powder, stir and eat it up.

12-18 sun dried tomato slices1/2 cup Italian salad dressing, olive oil or your own vinaigrette1/3 to 1/2 loaf of French breadBasil leafsPreheat oven to 350Marinate tomatoes in the dressing for 30 minutesCut bread in 1/2 to 3/4 inch slices and brush both sides of each slice of bread with dressingRoll up basil leaves and sliceBake bread until golden about 3 minutes per sideTop each slice of bread with a tomato slice and continue to cook until the tomatoes are heated about 4 minutesTop with basil slices.

Place the peas in your crock pot and cover with water. Let them soak for two or three hours while you celebrate New Years Eve. After midnight add more water covering the peas completely with about an inch of water over the level of the peas. Add the salt pork and set the crock pot on low. Let them cook all night long. In the morning, add more water if needed and stir. They will be ready by lunchtime. Stir in the Rotel just before serving. Yummy Yummy Yummy. It you want it to be Hoppin John, serve it over rice.